Readers of MxM would know that this is a question we’ve asked often. Why this special love for television? So we asked this question to Dr Bhaskar Das for the November 10 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

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Q. The government has instituted a special committee to look into TV audience measurement, when no such effort is made for print or radio or digital. Why this special love for television?

A. Even I have wondered like you. I can speculate an answer: first, TV is the largest medium. Second, as a visual medium, it has larger outreach and impact. Third, as big advertising monies ride on it, it might have been felt that measurement metrices need to be established robustly and without any controversy. I am sure tomorrow advertisers would ask for more data on other medium too where they have to invest, as performance marketing/ ROI would be a dominant norm for any marcom activity.

As an afterthought and come to think of it, one needs an authority on the subject to comment on your question. And I am not an expert.  But the advantage of a democratic country is that one can comment even if the understanding on a subject is suboptimal . But then the issue is: why did you ask the question? So, I was compelled to answer.